Posted!

Join the Conversation

Comments

Welcome to our new and improved comments, which are for subscribers only.
This is a test to see whether we can improve the experience for you.
You do not need a Facebook profile to participate.

You will need to register before adding a comment.
Typed comments will be lost if you are not logged in.

Please be polite.
It's OK to disagree with someone's ideas, but personal attacks, insults, threats, hate speech, advocating violence and other violations can result in a ban.
If you see comments in violation of our community guidelines, please report them.

UK-centric thoughts on latest NBA mock draft

UK's De'Aaron Fox passes the ball during the University of Kentucky basketball game against Texas A&M at Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY on Tuesday, January 3, 2017. (Photo: Mike Weaver/Special to The Courier-Journal)Buy Photo

First things first, Kentucky has three players listed in the first round and four overall.

Malik Monk is projected to go sixth to the Dallas Mavericks, De'Aaron Fox tenth to Portland and the Bucks will take Bam Adebayo at No. 18.

Some thoughts:

- Monk is listed as a PG/SG, and that's a stretch. There are point guards everywhere in this crop, with Markelle Fultz, Lonzo Ball and Dennis Smith ranked as the first three picks. Fox's inclusion makes it four of the top 10 picks as lead guards.

Monk is not a point guard. And that is OK, for now. He is an elite scorer, but what else does he do? He has given a damn on defense, somewhat surprising considering his reputation before suiting for Kentucky. UK coach John Calipari has given him credit for work ethic on the defensive end of the court, which should help his image as a coach-able talent. Monk does not rebound and does not pass. Those are things he can improve, especially the rebounding piece, but he is not a point guard. Surely any NBA team mulling over his selection knows is will get a tremendous scorer, with elite abilities in transition, an off-the dribble mid-range game and a 3-point shooter capable of draining better than 40 percent from beyond the arc.

That is enough to justify his status without reaching to call him a player that can man multiple spots.

- Why is Fox the fourth-best point guard in the class?

Shooting is the obvious knock. The freshman is hitting just 13.8 percent from beyond the arc (4-29) and has become this season's version of Isaiah Briscoe, elite at finishing at the basket and in much need of expanding the offensive range. I've got a feeling we're going to hear a lot from Calipari about Fox's need to improve that area after he started in on that in his Texas A&M post-game presser earlier this week.

By comparison from 3-point range:

Fultz: 43.3% (26-60)
Ball: 43.4 (36-83)
Smith: 38.8 (26-67)

- Adebayo may be lower than we previously envisioned, but he has the potential to play himself into the lottery. There is nobody in the Southeastern Conference that can handle the freshman forward, so he's due for plenty of strong performances in the coming months. Perhaps his height (6-10) is keeping him down, but I expect him to continue to emerge given the recent emphasis to increase his touches against hapless conference frontcourts.

Moses Kingsley versus Adebayo will be a match-up to watch this weekend in the UK-Arkansas game. Adebayo more than held his own against Texas A&M sophomore Tyler Davis, and he'll get his chance to go against a four-year player in Kingsley.

- Speaking of Kingsley and Davis, they're not on the list. And neither are very many other SEC players. Only three non-Kentucky players are included: No. 21, Texas A&M freshman forward Robert Williams, No. 42, Florida junior small forward Devin Robinson, No. 50, Vanderbilt senior center Luke Kornet.

- Absent from the list and of interest, Kentucky freshman Wenyen Gabriel and potential 2017 recruit (or earlier) Hamidou Diallo. And with Isaiah Briscoe at No. 55, the Wildcats could be really, really talented and really, really experienced next season.